Mistletoe Cures
by nightdancers
Summary: Edward and Bella are invited to the office Christmas party, but have an argument before leaving. Can a little mistletoe cure their woes?


**disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer, these are not my characters.**

**author's note: A fluffy Christmas one shot, post-BD. Pretty much a little idea that popped into my head and wouldn't go away. Happy Holidays :)  


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**Mistletoe Cures  
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"Bella, please." Edward's annoyed velvet voice was muted, but I heard it clearly in the confined space of the Vanquish. "Would you at least speak to me?"

We were speeding down the narrow country highway at roughly 90mph, but I hardly glanced at the speedometer. Instead I kept my eyes glued on the surrounding nighttime landscape, which was passing by at an almost boring pace. I was keenly aware that my body posture did not invite speaking, so I honestly didn't know why he was asking me to. My arms were crossed across my chest, my body angled toward the passenger window. I was sure my pout was childish to top, but I didn't care.

Edward and I rarely had arguments. In fact, in the decade since I had been changed, I could count our lover's quarrels on one hand. But tonight had been pretty bad. And of course, it had been about Nessie.

She had stopped aging about three years ago, and had been together with Jake ever since. I didn't have a problem with this; in fact, I had been the one that planned their whole marriage four months ago. That was all fine and good. Our fight tonight had happened because of the current housing situation.

Having a father as a mind reader was potentially the most disastrous thing for a pair of newlyweds. Jacob and Nessie had spent three entire months on their honeymoon, and had just arrived home a month ago. The problems had started there. Edward was constantly having to stay at a distance from them both, unable to handle thoughts about the more... intimate parts of their relationship. It had gotten so bad that they had approached us yesterday about moving away.

Edward had immediately agreed, but I was not so quick to do so. I most certainly wasn't ready to let go of my baby, especially after only ten years of having her with me. I didn't think I could handle parting with her so soon. My insistent husband had done his best to convince me otherwise, gently reminding me that we would have all eternity to visit.

When I had still refused, his argument changed to remind me that _he_ was the one that had to suffer through their thoughts. It only got uglier from there on out, and here we were, silently riding together to the annual Christmas party being held by Edward's boss. Edward had taken an office job a year ago, both to keep up appearances and to have something to do while I finished my university degree. We had agreed to come before our argument, and had no now choice but to attend.

Alice had helped me get ready with a sly smile, telling me over and over that it would be better by the end of the night. Her departing words were, "Turn right," something which made no sense to me whatsoever.

I rode silently the whole way there. Edward's quietly petulant voice once again broke the silence. "Bella, if you won't speak to me, then at least promise me you will be civil tonight. I have been bragging to everyone about my gorgeous, brilliant wife, so if you would..." he trailed off, barely minding the road as he tried to catch my eye.

I knew he was trying to dazzle me, so I refused to meet his gaze. I only gave him a small nod, a silent promise. He continued speaking without me. "I know I've told you this a thousand times since yesterday, but I'm not betraying you, love. You know I adore our daughter, but... it is excruciatingly painful for me to hear their thoughts. Surely you must understand."

He took my hand and squeezed it lightly, and I had to grudgingly admit he had a point. A very small, minuscule, almost nonexistent point. But I wasn't going to tell him that.

We arrived promptly on time to the party, together with a wave of guests. Edward parked the Vanquish easily in a narrow space, and was immediately at my door to open it. I glanced up at him with an eye roll, but allowed him to take my hand and help me out. He gave me his signature crooked smile, closed the car door, and took my arm to lead me inside.

It was difficult to stay angry with him, especially when I got a good look at him next to me. He was still, and always would be, inhumanly beautiful. He wore a dark tux which fit him perfectly, hinting at his flawlessly sculpted chest and arms. His bronze hair was in a casual disarray, framing and contrasting his pale skin. All in all, he left me quite breathless – quite a few feat in and of itself.

The only difference now was that I no longer felt inadequate at his side. My pale skin was now the same as his, both our skins without blemish. I wore a floor length gold colored dress, which fastened around the neck and had a plunging neckline. My mahogany hair was down in loose curls, covering my exposed back. The look was completed with a light shawl, which Edward had suggested I wear in case anyone wondered why I wasn't cold.

We walked together to the entrance of the large home that was serving as the party headquarters, arm in arm. The first room was an enormous, cleared away space, which I assumed was the living room. It was all decorated with garlands hung off every surface, twinkling lights, and splashes of red and green. There was a Christmas tree at every corner, and I briefly wondered if this house might actually be larger than the one we sometimes shared with the rest of the Cullens. As we walked through I saw several people gawking, and quite a few jealous glares from other women. Instinctively I held my husband closer, and in response heard a quiet chuckle meant only for my ears.

The night passed quickly as we mingled between different groups of people, Edward always proudly introducing me as Mrs. Bella Cullen. I played the part of the social, witty wife when we were talking to others, but as soon as we found ourselves alone I reminded Edward that I was still quite mad at him. He only humored my annoyance, which in turn made me angrier.

Towards the end of the night a young lady, looking in her early twenties approached us alone. She introduced herself as Edward's coworker, gushing about how intelligent and hard-working and efficient he was, and how well they worked together. I could instantly tell that she was utterly in love with him, as I'm sure any sane human girl would be. After all, I had been there once myself. Once I had had enough of her rambling, I tried to excuse us both, but my attempt failed. At that moment someone else called out Edward's name, and I recognized the voice from earlier as his boss. He gave me an apologetic smile before walking away and leaving me with the girl, who's name was apparently Melissa.

"So long have you two been married?" she asked, her voice cheery and somewhat hyper. I realized with a smirk that it was probably because of the wine glass in her hand, the third I had seen tonight.

I took a human moment before answering, shifting my weight and absently letting my eyes drift. "Oh, for a little over a year now." That was the story anyway. We were supposed to be a new couple, married just out of high school. He worked while I studied, a story that he insisted was believable enough. We even had a small home in town, which we entered and exited enough times to make our store even more credible. In reality, we spent most of the time in the large Cullen home about an hour away.

The girl, Melissa, got a brighter gleam in her eye. "That isn't very long at all, is it? Were you two high school sweethearts?"

Her tone did not escape me. She was a little too eager for these to be purely polite questions. "Yes, we've known each other for a very long time." This time my words were clipped, and I was sure I would be radiating animosity any second now. Where in the world was Edward?

"Yes well, I'm sure you two know each other pretty well. Still, you can't expect things to never change, you know?" She paused, took a long sip from her wine glass, and then continued. "Do you see him very much? I'm sure you both have hectic schedules. We work together nearly all eight hours, did you know?"

That was when I had had enough. I only nodded, gave her a forced smile, and briefly excused myself on the pretense of needing to freshen up. I slipped between people effortlessly until I reached the edge of the large room, trying to focus on Edward's voice. When I wasn't able to hear him I frowned despite myself, sensing a few strange looks from those that saw me. My anger with Edward was only getting worse.

Not only had he dragged me to this party, but he had abandoned me with his lovestruck coworker and then disappeared in the middle of the night. My husband would be paying for this one.

I had just about reached the limit of my restraint. Without saying a word to anyone I headed to the nearest closed door, which I knew headed outside. Or so I thought. When I reached the door I found myself in a hallway I didn't recognize, looking identical in both directions. It was strangely empty and quiet, and I guessed that this wasn't an area guests were supposed to see. I closed the door behind me anyway, at this point hardly caring how I got out.

Alice's parting words hit me then, and after a brief moment of hesitation, I turned right. I only followed the hallway a short distance before I heard the faintest rustling of material around the next corner. I abruptly turned around it, and found myself face to face with a very amused Edward. "Did you enjoy talking to Melissa?" His voice was laced with humor, and he stood before me with both hands clasped behind his back. Something was off about him, primarily his scent, but I couldn't quite place the difference.

"Oh, of course. She's a real riot," I answered dryly, shifting to stand with both hands on my hips. "Apparently you two spend eight hours of every day closely working together." Even I had to smirk at my words. To anyone else they might have sounded jealous, but that idea was ridiculous. The human girl hardly threatened my relationship with Edward. Instead, my anger stemmed from the fact that he had left me with her alone, without bothering to return.

He took a step closer, the same annoying humorous smile on his face that he had had all night. "Bella, love, it's Christmas." His voice was soft and gentle, contrasting with his amused expression.

When I didn't answer, and instead pouted and crossed my arms across my chest again, his smile dropped. Another step closer, and I realized that there was slightly earthy scent mingled with his own. His voice changed to become pleading, and he turned the full force of his golden eyes on me. "I don't want you to bee upset with me the entire night. You may be fooling everyone else, but not me."

If it had been possible, I'm sure I would have been blushing. Now that we were in the confines of the hallway, under bright lights, I couldn't ignore Edward's charm. His delicious scent, his seductive voice, his smoldering eyes were all drawing me in and it was becoming ridiculously difficult to say no. I slowly let my arms drop to my side, taking an unwilling step closer to him. His lips twitched, but he didn't smile, instead bringing one arm forward from behind his back to lightly caress my jawline. This touch sent shock waves through me.

A small part of my brain fought to remind me that I was still very mad at him. Nessie, party, abandonment - right. "You left me alone, and then the whole thing with Nessie," I tried to firmly remind him, but my voice was already slightly huskier.

"I couldn't help leaving you with Melissa, my boss was calling and he wanted to talk to me in private. I'm going to be promoted," he said in a whisper, his free hand snaking around behind my neck, burying itself in my curls. I could hear the quiet pride in his voice, even for something so simple. I could hear it in his voice every time he shared even the smallest accomplishment with me.

My body leaned towards him, despite the one lingering protest in my mind. I struggled against Edward mentally, but body was always curving towards him against my will. "Nessie," I managed to get out, keeping my eyes trained on his golden tie so that he couldn't try to distract me. "How can you want her to leave? We've only had her for ten years, and already you'd be willing to let her go."

"I am only willing because of what I would rather not hear, you know that. Nessie and Jacob are both very young, and despite being mature, are sometimes... driven by physical needs." He stumbled over the words, and I'm sure that he would have been blushing to speak about his daughter that way. "You can't shield them forever."

I had tried, of course; that had been my first attempted solution. But I could hardly keep Nessie and Jacob shielded from Edward's mind reading at all times, it became exhausting soon enough. So I had to concede that point. "Can't you... just pretend not to hear?"

"You know very well that's impossible. Besides, as short as the time has been for us, Nessie is a mature adult. Physically, she may very well even be a little older than us. And mentally as well." That was true. Sometimes Nessie's wisdom was startling. She had so much insight into things. Perhaps Edward had a point there...

He came a little closer, the hand at my neck slipping down my exposed back and coming to rest at the small of my back. His fingers lightly grazed the skin there, and I involuntarily let out a tiny moan. It was becoming very difficult to remember all the other parts of my argument, especially when Edward was so close. I was enveloped in his scent now, mixed in with an earthy compliment. It was that small difference which caught my attention. "What is that?" I dragged my eyes up to his, a small frown on my face. "What are you holding?"

His eyes indicated upwards, and I followed his gaze. The hand that had previously been behind his back was above us now, holding a lovely small sprig of mistletoe, the source of the earthy scent. When I met his eyes once more they were shining brightly, a small smile on his lips. He leaned in, whispering in my ear. "How about we continue discussing this topic tomorrow, and you forgive me... just for tonight?"

I shuddered as his lips brushed the outside of my ear. He took that as an answer, shifting his lips so that they traced a featherlight path along my jawline. At the last moment he lowered the hand that was above his head to wrap it around my waist, pulling me into an adoring kiss.

The mistletoe in his hand landed with a light thud on the ground.


End file.
